Ep. 391: Am I Getting Better? feat. Josh McKinney

Ep. 391: Am I Getting Better? feat. Josh McKinney

From BJJ Mental Models by Steve Kwan

May 18, 2026 · 1h 5m · Episode 391

About this episode

Josh McKinney discusses effective self-coaching methods and the misconceptions around measuring progress in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

This week, we're joined by Josh McKinney! Josh is a black belt, head coach at HeadNod Jiu-Jitsu in Southern Illinois, and the host of the I Suck at Jiu-Jitsu podcast. In this episode, Josh shares a framework for self-coaching beyond getting belt promotions, and explains why submission count and belt color are the wrong yardsticks for measuring whether you're getting better. Topics include: false metrics, the over-reliance on your A-game, learning to read old-school black belts, the Henry Akin...

People in this episode

Host: Steve Kwan

Guest: Josh McKinney

Topics covered

  • self-coaching
  • measuring progress
  • false metrics
  • submission count
  • belt promotions
  • black belt learning

Keywords

  • self-coaching
  • BJJ
  • progress measurement
  • black belt
  • submission count
  • A-game
  • false metrics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HeadNod Jiu-Jitsu

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